Raven closed his eyes for a moment, not responding at first, feeling as though he was going to pass out, but shifted a little on the other had laid down, trying to relax on his pained side. "Thank you, Kail." He whispered, before his eyes fluttered shut and he went still beside the other, breathing softly.

----------------------

In weeks following the initial skirmish, the weather grew colder and supplies became scarce. In the first week, Connor went missing. A few days later, another noticed several sets of boot prints crossing the group's territory. Horatio had been suspicious, but arrogant, until the morning when Rowan's group attacked the patrol of Horatio, Marta, Raven, Kail, and a few others as they scavenged the highway bridge for oil and weapons. The group was far larger than theirs, and Raven attempted to keep the others in his line of sight as they were separated and chased into cover, but he only managed to stay beside Kail as they hid beside the railings, cornered at the far end of the bridge that had shattered off and broken into the water.

Raven huddled behind a rusted out, small car besides Kail, trying to keep their attackers away, shooting his rifle off, desperate to avoid both the car tanks and the people on both sides of the struggle, but trying to ward them off.

When Jaz took aim at them, stepping out and pointing her rifle directly at Kail, Raven tensed, but she didn't seem to be wary of them as she marched up. He put his hands up and stepped in front of Kail. "H-hey, listen- Jaz? You don't have to-""I'm done listening, we helped you, and you betrayed us, and then you sent that man and set our home and food on fire!" She cried, her voice fiery with anger. "We're going to starve thanks to you!"Raven blinked at her, uncertain. "C-Conner?""Whoever he was, he's dead, just like Mark and half of our people, you're all going to suffer the same for what you did!"With that, she swung fired once at them, over their heads, and then swung her gun lower and braced herself as she fired at the engine of the car in front of them.

Raven felt immense heat at the blast, shielding his face with his arm and stumbling back, but the explosion sent shrapnel flying, causing another blast close to Jaz. The already crumbling road and its supports began to shift and collapse beneath them, and Raven felt himself falling through nothing.

When their small group was attacked, Kail wasn’t really too sure what to do. A part of him knew this could be his chance to try and slip away, but it could potentially put a target on his back from both the groups. The weeks that had past hadn’t been… horrible, but he had much rathered his old group over Horatio’s. Sure he could stand out in the open and refuse to take cover, but he didn’t really like the thought of being left there to bleed out.

So he kept close to Raven instead, trying to keep an eye on where the other’s had gone as well. He didn’t want to shoot anyone from either side, but he was sure none of the others from camp would take too kindly to being shot at either. He aimed for the ground next to their feet, hoping to maybe scare them off. He doubted it, certain they had a purpose for cornering them here, and he was almost certain that Horatio wouldn’t take too kindly to him not actively trying to harm the others but he didn’t care too much right now. With that thought, the brunet glanced over to where the other male was. Much like the weeks before when he had come looking for the two of them after the bear attack, he thought about swinging the gun around to aim at him. His grip tightened on his gun before he noticed Raven move to stand in front of him.

Shaking the thought from his head, Kail looked towards Jaz as she came closer. As she spoke about their camp being set on fire, his stomach tightened. No one had known where Conner had gone, but now he couldn’t help but think Horatio had had something to do with it, even if he had played stupid over the others disappearance. Sure he didn’t know Conner that well but that didn't change his suspicion. He moved to stand a little straighter, about to speak before her first shots caused him to duck back down. As the tank exploded, he instinctively dropped his weapon to cover his face with both of his arms, stumbling backwards a little from the heat. That was until he no longer felt the solid concrete below him, closing his eyes tight. He was aware that the shock from the explosion had likely caused the rest of the support to crumble, sending them falling to the water below, but he wasn’t too keen on watching himself free fall either.

Hitting the water after what seemed like forever, Kail kicked to the surface with a gasp, coughing up some water he had inhaled upon first going under. Once getting his bearings, he quickly looked around for Raven, unsure if he had fallen with himmore like for him amirite or been able to make it onto the rest of the bridge.

Raven tried to scream involuntarily as he dropped away from the bridge, scrabbling at nothing, but his voice was torn away through the wind as he fell, and he attempted to gather himself to hit the water to break the surface so he didn't wound himself, but only half managed to draw himself into position as the water engulfed him, crashing hard against his frame. In the same second, something hard smashed into him from above, and he choked in water, sputtering as he fought his way to the surface, barely reaching the top, he coughed and gasped for air against the brackish water in his throat, still dazed from the concrete that had hit his head and back. He was numb to the pain in his shock as the current carried him along, and he fought to stay above water. He noticed Kail then, a bit upriver from him, and felt relief the other was alive, but was unable to get any closer to him, his strength rapidly fading against the cold, powerful water. He fought for several minutes until the other was dragged closer, and with the last of his strength, clung to the other, both for support and to keep them together as they were carried away. The boy said nothing, too exhausted and hurt to try and speak, let alone keep his head above water, but tried to stay with Kail as they worked their way towards shore.

[size=57]Kail was relieved to see the others head appear above the water a moment or two later. That relief was quickly washed away when he saw how the other was seemingly struggling. He knew there was no way that he’d be able to swim towards him, the current too strong for such an action. But they couldn’t afford to be separated either, not if they were being dragged away from familiar territory. Doing his best to fight against the water to at least keep him in place until Raven caught up with him, Kail carefully grabbed onto the back of the others shirt to stop either of them from potentially straying further from one another. Once he felt him grab onto him he loosened his grip on his shirt, looking around for either a rock or branch he could grab onto to help get them to shore. When no such luck appeared, the brunet worked on making his way to the shore slowly, trying to avoid smashing into any rocks that could be laying underneath of the murky water. [size=57]Finally dragging the both of them onto the shore, he collapsed just out of the shallow water, shivering from the cold of the water and trying to catch his breath. He looked over to Raven after a moment, pushing himself to sit up. “Are… are you okay?” he asked, brow furrowing.[/size][/size]

Raven felt relief as the other helped pull them along, doing what he could to help pull them towards the shore as Kail took the lead. When the other helped him to the shore, he fell beside him, coughing and breathing hard as he lay of his back, still clinging to the other's arm until the brunet moved. He nodded weakly; his voice raspy as he spoke up. "Y-yeah; b-breathed in water." He coughed again, pushing himself up and pressing his hand to the back of his head where the stone had struck him, frowning as he tried to ward off the overwhelming ache. "You?" He asked, looking over at the other with genuine concern in his one open eye.

Kail nodded slightly as he was assured the other was as okay as he could possibly be after all of that. He ran a hand through his hair to try and ring out some of the water that clung to it, trying to think this all over, only pulled from his thoughts when he heard Raven speak up once more. "A little beat up," he admitted quietly. "But nothing I won't get over." Once he was sure he could stand up without toppling over - unsure if the shivering was from the cold of the water and air or from nerves - the brunet looked around with uncertainty. It wouldn't be hard to follow the river back up stream to familiar territory, but did he really want to go back? If anything now was their chance to run, but he didn't want to force Raven to go along with him if he didn't want to - whether it was further away or back to the camp. "What should we do?" he asked finally after a few moments, looking to the other.

"We can make our way up the river until we find the road again. I-." The boy replied quickly at first, then hesitated, his worry for Horatio and the others suddenly overshadowed by another thought. He stayed quiet for a moment then, picking up the wood strewn about the edge of the river and listening, shivering hard and seeming distressed. The gunshots had disappeared, and the bridge was a blur in the distance. They'd be carried a long way, or the fight had ended, but he had no certainty for the rival group's survival. "W-we need to get warm, first." He mumbled distractedly. Winter was nearly here and the night would be deadly if they didn't find shelter or make fire, especially in their soaked clothing. "Kail." He paused as he pushed the wood together, still shivering. "Did you hear what Jaz said?" He asked, voice weak. "Horatio.. he.. I should've known." He spat angrily. "He... he couldn't just leave them."

Kail's brow furrowed as the other spoke about heading up river back towards the road. He wanted to tell him to leave without him if that were the case but stopped as the other seemed to hesitate. He nodded slightly as he mentioned getting warm before they decided anything, nodding as he grabbed a few hopefully dry pieces of wood a little ways from the water. Grabbing some moss as well to hopefully help get the fire started, he set the wood alongside of what Raven had gathered, stopping to look up at him as he spoke once again. Taking a deep breath, he nodded as he stood up "I heard her..." he said quietly. "It would explain why he didn't seem to care when Conner went missing..." He hadn't been surprised, and still wasn't surprised, but it was still hard to believe. He bit his tongue for a moment, thinking before he spoke up once more. "Should we even go back?" he asked, looking down at the pile of wood they had gathered. "I mean... I don't know what else is out there... but if he's willing to send someone to do that..."

Raven glanced up quickly, fear in his dark eyes as the other mentioned running away. "We can't. He'll find us. Do that? He's done much worse." He told him seriously, and continued building up the fire, trying desperately to get a spark from the dampened lighter in his pocket. "I've tried to run. He found me." He admitted weakly, patting his chest were the mark had been burned into him through his soaking shirt. "The first time, with my friend. He shot her to death. The second, third, fourth, fifth time he cut me, burned me, beat me, used me, branded me." He listed off weakly, finally blowing a spark into the moss and coaxing it into a small flame. "He said if I ran again he would blind me. I can't go. I can't." He refused, getting up from the flame and drag over a log and sitting on one end, shucking off his coat to dry by the fire. "I can say you drowned, though." He offered, his voice softer.

Kail stood awkwardly near by as the other tried to catch the moss on fire, hoping that the lighter would in fact work. His stomach twisted as Raven listed off the things that the man had done to him when he had tried to run away previous times, staying silent. He hesitated a bit before he sat on the other end of the log, taking his own jacket off to lay by the fire. "He wouldn't have to know..." he said quietly, looking down at the fire. "For all he knows we both drowned. It.. it would take a while but we wouldn't have to stay around here. We could travel as far as we can so he wouldn't find you." He paused, shaking his head. "I'm not going to force you to run off if you'd rather play it safe and make your way back...You shouldn't have to live the rest of your life in fear is all." He fell silent after that, keeping his attention on the fire. He wasn't sure what he was going to do. Staying with a group would be wise on one hand, and he was aware of that. But at the same time he wasn't sure if he could go back if this was his one chance to be free of the group for good. Surely he could either make it on his own or find another group out there somewhere. It was just a matter of if he ever ran into Horatio in the future. Shivering slightly at the thought, he frowned a little as he looked over at Raven, brow furrowed. "I don't think I'll go back.."

Raven glanced up at the boy once, feeling a small spark of hope, but it was quickly drowned in the sea of fear and helplessness, and he said nothing, continuing to stoke and encourage the fire, before sitting down, freezing in the cold afternoon air, considering the other's words, as much as he knew it couldn't happen. He nodded as Kail made his decision, but felt a pang of sadness alongside his hope for the other. He would miss the other being with him in the tent, having someone to talk or just listen to who didn't mock and insult him. "Where would we... will you go?" He asked the boy uncertainly.

Kail picked up a stray twig that hadn't made it into the fire, twirling it in his hands as he thought over the question. He didn't even know what state the rest of the cities were like, or who else may have survived. He didn't even know how far he'd travel to get away from Horatio. He doubted the man would take too kindly to finding him with another group, even if it were months down the road, but he didn't know how far he'd be able to make it without being attacked by another hostile group. With a sigh, he wrapped his arms around himself to try and warm himself up a little quicker, gaze dropping. "I don't know...." he admitted. "I just can't go back there... this is ou... my one shot at getting out of there without being found out, I have to take it."

Raven listened to the other and nodded quietly. He wanted so badly to find another place. He wasn't scared of the road; nothing could be worse than Horatio; but nothing felt better, and no one else would care about him, either. Could he just leave? What would he even have then? He was nothing without Horatio, just some shadow of a person he didn't really remember. What was even was there for him out there? Kail had been kind to him, but he found it hard to believe the other really wanted anything to do with him. He stayed in silence for a long time, cycling his clothing and drying it the best he could; trying to keep himself from freezing in the cold air. When his jacket was dry, he glanced at Kail thoughtfully for a moment before standing to drape it over the other's shoulders, still warm from the edge of the fire, then glancing away again as he tended the flame. "If you took the road... it would be dangerous, but it would be safer than the forest, and you could find other towns where there might still be stuff to loot, or even the army, closer to the cities." He suggested softly.

Kail stayed silent as they worked on drying out their clothes, lost in thought as he cautiously listened for the sounds of anyone approaching. When Raven stood up, the brunet looked over to him with a confused look before the jacket was draped over his shoulders. He had warmed up rather considerably since the fire had gotten going, and while he still felt the cold from the remainder of his wet clothes he wasn't too sure what to do. "I... thank you.." he said softly after a moment or two. When he had warmed up, he carefully shrugged the jacket off to drape over Raven's shoulders, worrying more about the other than himself. He took a deep breath as the road was mentioned, nodding. "I'm sure I'll find something..." he mumbled. He glanced over at him "When... we do part.. be careful back there, yeah?" he said with a small frown. "You don't deserve that kind of treatment.."

Raven put his jacket on and hugged it around himself once the other had gotten warm, thankful for the shelter again as he got the last of his clothes dry. As the other spoke, he nodded quietly, thankful for the other's words, but he knew it would be just the same. "I... I could walk to the road with you, if you want. I could use that to get back easier, anyway." He offered uncertainly, glancing at the other nervously. Some part of him didn't want to say goodbye just yet. And that wouldn't be unreasonable, really...a few more hours, and Horatio wouldn't know, anyway.

Kail was a little surprised when the other offered to walk him back to the road, though he didn't blame the other for not wanting to rush back to camp. "The company would be nice..." he admitted, looking over at him with a faint smile. After his own jacket had dried, he laid it over his lap for the time being, hesitant to get going. As the fire started to die down, the brunet took a deep breath "I guess we should get going then... to at least find the road.." He didn't really want to have a run in with another bear and didn't want the other to get into trouble if he was back late either. "Unless you'd rather rest a bit more first," he offered, pulling his jacket back on.

Raven nodded quietly, doing his best to put out the fire and cover the remains with mud; throwing the burnt wood into the bushes to cover their tracks as best as he could. He followed Kail up and away from the river, towards the road; looking back at the bridge again; far in the distance. He didn't know what to say as he followed the other, so he fell into silence, worried about the others, and worried about saying goodbye to Kail. He was going to miss the brunet. When they stepped out of the forest and onto the bare; wide highway, Raven looked down the ways cautiously, slowing to a stop near Kail. "...Good luck. I hope you find somewhere safe." He told the other hopefully, pulling the carved knife from his boot and passing it to the boy. "Here, I'll make another for myself." He assured, passing it to the boy, but avoided eye contact as he stepped away.

After everything was covered, he started up to where he was sure the road would be. Just as unsure of what to say to the other, he stayed silent as they trekked through the forest, worried for what was to come. He wanted to try again to convince the other to come with him, but it seemed that his mind was set - not that he blamed the other with that kind of fear of Horatio. Slowing his pace as well as they finally came across the road, Kail looked around cautiously before looking towards Raven as he spoke. He nodded a little as he was wished luck, about to wish him the same when he was handed the knife. His brow furrowed slightly as he looked at the other "Are you sure?" he asked, hesitantly holding the knife. Even if the other could make another one, he didn't want to take it just in case. Tucking it into his boot, he glanced over his shoulder with a deep breath, still hesitant on leaving without the other. He looked back to Raven after a moment "I don't want to keep you any longer... I'm sure he's going to angry enough.." he said softly, taking a small step back. "I... can't thank you enough for the help..." Not wanting to keep the other longer than he needed, as much as he wanted to stay, he turned and started down the road in the opposite direction.

Raven nodded and waved quietly as the other thanked him, heading off down the road without the boy, walking quickly and keeping his head down, anxious at any second for Horatio to appear out of the trees. As he walked, he wondered if the other might've been shot or drowned, as much as the thought made him feel worried or unsure of what he was going back to, he felt more uncertain than anything. At the same time, he felt more sad about the loss of his friend than anything, but hopeful the boy would be better on his own.He listened to the birds as he walked along the empty road cautiously, heading back to the camp with heavy feet.

Kail kept his gaze forward as they parted ways, still unsure of this all. He wasn't so much concerned about himself as he was for Raven after learning about what Horatio had done to him in the past - not that it surprised him any. While he was aware that many other groups could be just as hostile as Horatio's, he was willing to take the chance with leaving. It was strange, not having someone by his side, but he tried to shake the empty feeling off. After walking for what seemed like forever, he slowed his pace as he looked around cautiously. He eventually stopped to rest just off the edge of the road, not wanting to be out in the open for too long either. He felt he was far enough that Horatio wouldn't come looking for him and the swim to shore on top of the walking he had done had him tired out.

Hearing some twigs snapping behind him in the forest, Kail jumped up and pulled the knife from his boot. He was unsure of what it was, but he didn't want to take any chances. Relaxing as whatever animal it was ran off in the other direction, the brunet settled down for a little while longer before he decided to start on his way again, unsure of what could be in the area.

----Raven hurried along the road under the darkening sky. He was exhausted at this point, but his fear kept him going as he hugged the treeline; looking for Kail but desperately trying to stay out of sight, unable to shake the feeling he was being hunted, even though he was sure he had left no trace. When he saw movement in the trees ahead, he tensed and watching, feeling relief soar in his chest as he realized it was only the other."Kail." He called out softly, hurrying to catch up to the other, trying not to surprise him. He had a satchel, a backpack, and a rifle slung over his back, and looked both nervous and excited to see the other as he walked up, holding out the pack to the boy.

Kail had carried on down the road for what seemed like forever. He hadn't wanted to stop in place for too long, though was still feeling a little shaken from the fall into the river. Hearing movement behind him, the brunet tensed for a moment before he heard the familiar voice call out his name. He glanced over his shoulder to see the other hurrying to catch up with him, slowing his own pace down so he wouldn't have to rush as much. He blinked as he was handed a pack, taking it from the other before he looked to him with a furrowed brow. "I thought you were staying with the others?" he asked softly, watching him.

Raven's heart was racing, but he tried to speak calmly as he explained, shaking his head. "I got back to camp; they weren't there yet, and- and I thought-" His face fell a little at the other's expression and he trailed off. He didn't look nearly as happy to have a companion, and the boy glanced away, reconsidering his choices; why would Kail want him around anyway? He was target, and one of Horatio's, at least to Kail, maybe it had been a mistake to think they were friends. That had been a selfish thought; with everything he was, and everything Kail had been through at Horatio's hands. "I... Maybe we should go sepperately... encase he... looks for me. I should of thought of that, sorry." He hesitated softly. "Thanks for looking out for me, that night." He added and he pulled his own pack up on his back a bit, considering which way he should go now.

Kail listened to the other as he tried to explain why he had decided to come back after having been so worried about getting back. He blinked as the other seemed to drop off, looking at him with a concerned look before Raven spoke up about going separately once again. He hadn't meant for him to think that he didn't want him around, he had been more worried about the other, knowing that if Horatio found out he had stole from him and ran off that he wouldn't be too happy. He stumbled over his words for a moment as he watched him turn the other way, shaking his head. "We don't have to go separately," he said, taking a small step towards him. "I.. I just thought I wouldn't see you again is all.." he told him. "You seemed so sure that you wanted to go back... that you were afraid of running off.."